Monthly Archives: December 2008

Ice Skating

Leave a reply

Today I went ice skating, with Mariana, at the Kent Ice Arena. In a bit of a turn of irony I had actually never been there, and this is of course ironic, because I am a Kent State University graduate. It was the first time I had ever gone ice skating.

The first hurdle was to pick out the right skates. I tried the figure skating pair, but the hard plastic and the way they fit caused me to roll my ankle. This of course makes it both impossible to skate and painful. We had to take a break anyway, since the Zamboni had to make it’s rounds so I got the hockey pair. While these fit much looser they actually managed to make it far easier, which was originally the complete opposite of how I thought an ice skate should fit. I got the hang of it fairly well, which is to say I only fell once, and it was really fun.

Mariana and I went to Panera’s afterward and it’s always nice to get some hot soup on a day like today. It was a typical north east Ohio day and the rain and the general gloom of gray skies and cold made it a good idea.

Then it was on to her house for a little Christmas gift exchange. I got her a statue of a dragon, because she had mentioned that she liked dragons. Her gift to me though was without a doubt one of the coolest gifts that I have gotten in years. She got me the book “The Zen of Zombie” and it’s hilarious and with the word “zen” in the title there is some deeper meaning to the whole thing. I’ve already started reading it, and it is surely a book I want to finish.

Merry Christmas

Leave a reply

Christmas is here and we managed to get through it. The kids got just about everything they asked for, and I think from their reactions opening their presents that they made out pretty well. This was the first Christmas that I insisted that they change out of their pajamas and into some decent clothes for the picture, which I’ll probably put up soon.

We were invited over to my sister Becky’s house for dinner. Her husband and her two kids were there, so it was a house full with us all there. We exchanged gifts and had a really great dinner and we will be getting the pictures from them, and I’ll probably put some of them up here as well.

It was a good Christmas. I’m really thankful for how everything turned out here at the end of the year. I’m really grateful for making it through another year without too many problems. Things are good. I hope everything is going well for everyone else.

Christmas Concert

Leave a reply

I went to the last concert of the year. It was at Firestone elementary where Eddy was playing the viola. It was a lot shorter than last year. They had a play, a choir, and the band. I noticed quite a few differences from the presentation at the elementary school as opposed to my first year at the middle school.

For one the elementary school has individual performances by children. Some kids get to showcase their talent, where at the middle school it’s solely a collective effort. They also are a bit less politically correct at the elementary school, which I don’t mind at all, but they call it a Christmas concert at the elementary and a Winter concert at the middle school. The songs are different, the presentation is different, and that’s the last one I’ll see.

I don’t know if they were recording the presentation at the elementary school. I found out that they are waiting until Friday to play the recording of the Winter concert that I went to on Tuesday.

Rock Band 2

Leave a reply

I finally got Rock Band 2 and I finally got Jacqui over to see it. She reacted much the same as anyone who has played Guitar Hero and gets to play guitar on Rock Band, which is to say that they always lament it as being just an “Ok” experience. She warmed up quickly to the experience though once we let her play drums. She claimed that she’d be an expert in 2 weeks if she could have a drum set, and while I doubt that, she did take to medium pretty quickly and even managed to play a fairly easy song on hard. It’s amazing how fast some people pick up on how to play drums. Kind of like Derek and “Maps”.

I know I didn’t mention getting Rock Band 2 here, but I am now. It’s a family gift for Christmas, and so everyone can enjoy it. Everyone has been enjoying it so far. I got an amazing deal on it, because the Toys-R-Us ad had it for $109, which is $80 off what it normally is.

Winter Concert

Leave a reply

I went to the Roswell Kent middle school Winter Concert to see Patty play violin. I have to say it was an enjoyable experience. There were performances from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade choir, band, and orchestra. They made an announcement that the entire performance was going to be recorded, so I would imagine that today the kids could go to school, or at least sometime in the future, and hear how they played.

We had to get Patty a white blouse and we wanted to get her a black skirt, but we couldn’t find one, so we ended up getting her black slacks. Patty did well and I hope she continues to take the lessons throughout the 7th and 8th grade as well.

Laptop Problems (Update)

Leave a reply

Dell sent someone out and they fixed my laptop. That was fast. He was actually here on Tuesday.  I wasn’t actually home at the time, but since I’ve had a few days to play around with it I think it works just fine.  He left his business card.  He called me after he was done and he said something that really sounded bizarre to me.

He said that there were a few screws missing, and he had to replace them. I haven’t personally taken the laptop apart, so the only time I had it serviced was at the University of Akron computer services. I don’t want to say it was them, but I don’t believe he was lying either. Wasn’t expecting that one.

Finals Week

Leave a reply

Today is probably the worst day of my finals. This is a 2 1/2 hour final that will surely test my ability to put a great deal of information on paper. I’m not thrilled about the final, but it’s not for lack of trying to prepare. I’ve been studying and organizing my notes. I had to send the notes to someone who missed a class and wanted to have my notes.

Tuesday nothing is going on, which is good. Wednesday I have a take home final to turn in. Thursday I have a take home final and a paper to turn in. It’s a busy week, but after Thursday I’m finally done and this semester will be behind me. I’ll be happier about it all after I get my grades. I’m sure they are going to be good, but I like to have that in black and white.

My Sister

Leave a reply

My sister Becky came out and brought her kids. It was fun having them over. Becky and I caught up on things, like how I have finals and how she’ll never have finals again. What she’s doing with the whole attorney thing. It’s nice to know what people are doing.

We talked while the kids watched Toy Story. We fixed macaroni and cheese and hot dogs for dinner. She helped me put away the dishes and reminded me that I haven’t used the steamer she let me borrow to take down the border in the living room. I’m going to do it, I’ve just been preoccupied.

Laptop Problems

Leave a reply

My laptop isn’t working, but this time it’s a little more serious than a broken USB port on the side. I would have gone through the computer services at the university, but honestly it took about 2 weeks last time. While the guy I was working with did everything right and made sure everything was working I just don’t feel like I have that kind of time. I went ahead and called Dell.

Calling Dell is not much fun. First they asked me for a number off of my laptop, and I entered it in wrong, but no big deal right, because the prompt at the end reads back the number and says “is this correct?” and I can just answer “no”. Well, it wouldn’t turn out to be that easy at all. I said “no” the prompt said that it didn’t recognize what I said or something and this went on till I was finally transferred to a real human being who transferred me to technical support.

The technical support people were kind of hilarious. Here I am with a laptop that turns on, but doesn’t really do much else. The LED’s aren’t coming on and the keyboard doesn’t do anything. So, the steps were kind of completely inappropriate. Take for example asking me to open Microsoft Word or Notepad and type something in or restarting and hitting F2 at the Dell screen. Yeah, neither of those are going to work when the keyboard isn’t working.

It reminded me why I never want to do phone technical support again. This poor worker isn’t deviating from the script because they are incapable, it is because they probably get a hundred calls a week from people who don’t have a legitimate hardware problem and are just too stupid to restart their computer or something. It’s real and it’s not fun.

I am supposed to receive a phone call from a local tech who is going to come out and replace the motherboard, the keyboard, and the hard drive bracket, and that last thing is for something completely unrelated to today’s events.

Thursday WoW Update

Leave a reply

With the holidays comes a lot of free time to play the games that we all love, but it also means traveling, family, bad weather, and time spent at parties and all sorts of get togethers. While people are still playing World of Warcraft in my circle of friends, and might I add that I have actually logged a few hours as well, for the most part things are just sort of staying the same.

Maybe some time we will all have the time to all get together online and play our characters and stuff. Until then Final’s week is getting closer, Christmas break for the kids, and many other distractions.